MELBOURNE (Reuters) – A look at the key facts and records of Spain’s Rafa Nadal and Russia’s Daniil Medvedev ahead of their meeting in the Australian Open final on Sunday (prefix number denotes seeding):
6-RAFA NADAL
Age: 35
ATP ranking: 5
Grand Slam titles: 20
Career ATP titles: 89
2021 Australian Open performance: Quarter-finals
Best Australian Open performance: Winner (2009)
ROAD TO THE FINAL
First round: Marcos Giron (United States) 6-1 6-4 6-2
Second round: Yannick Hanfmann (Germany) 6-2 6-3 6-4
Third round: 28-Karen Khachanov (Russia) 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-1
Fourth round: Adrian Mannarino (France) 7-6(14) 6-2 6-2
Quarter-finals: 14-Denis Shapovalov (Canada) 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3
Semi-finals: 7-Matteo Berrettini (Italy) 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3
After missing chunks of the 2021 season, including the Olympics and the U.S. Open, due to a long-standing foot problem, the Spaniard is one win away from a men’s record 21st Grand Slam title.
2-DANIIL MEDVEDEV
Age: 25
ATP ranking: 2
Grand Slam titles: 1
Career ATP titles: 13
2021 Australian Open performance: Final
Best Australian Open performance: Final (2021)
ROAD TO THE FINAL
First round: Henri Laaksonen (Switzerland) 6-1 6-4 7-6(3)
Second round: Nick Kyrgios (Australia) 7-6(1) 6-4 4-6 6-2
Third round: Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands) 6-4 6-4 6-2
Fourth round: Maxime Cressy (United States) 6-2 7-6(4) 6-7(4) 7-5
Quarter-finals: 9-Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) 6-7(4) 3-6 7-6(2) 7-5 6-4
Semi-finals: 4-Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) 7-6(5) 4-6 6-4 6-1
Medvedev has reached the Australian Open decider for the second straight year. Should he defeat Nadal, he will become the first man in the Open era to win his first two Grand Slam titles in succession, after his triumph at the U.S. Open in September.
HEAD TO HEAD: Nadal leads 3-1
(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by William Mallard)
